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Fringe 2007 Reviews (53)
The Queen of Slaughter
Portugal Theatre
Assembly Aurora Nova
**
In a world where communism as a regime is on the decline, the small
red book, a large banner declaring 'LIBERT' and the Y clearly torn off,
seemed dated.
Themes of idealists fighting for revolutionary ideology against the
backdrop of bunker-like reality run through the Queen of Slaughter.
The object that provides the only dramatic tension in the show is a
silvery gun introduced by the sole female in the quartet of performers.
She seduces the new arrival to execute a rebellion member.
The show lacked the dramatic energy needed to sustain interest in the
characters and their subject.
Rivka Jacobson
The Battle of Stalingrad
By Rezo Gabriadze
Tibilisi Marionette State Theatre
Assembly Aurora Nova
*****
In an era where battles are constantly fought by youngsters in computer
games, it was rather surprising to see an age tag of 15+ on the programme,
particularly as the protagonists are puppets of various sizes and materials;
puppets that represent a rainbow of characters, some tragic, comic,
and others pathetic or angelic.
Well, this play is not really about the bloody battle of Stalingrad,
but about the human cost of any bloody battle. In the author's words
this is 'a requiem'. Gabradze's puppets and five puppeteers expose the
audience in the fourteen scenes to an extraordinary journey through
physical landscapes, historical landmarks and emotional encounters.
There is an incredible physical journey where a loud sound of a moving
steam locomotive is accompanied by imaginatively created rotating glossy
green bucket. The bucket has some windows cut in its sides through which
a light shines on human profiles. The bucket is removed while the sound-track
of the train noises continues, and the scenes are changed by the puppetiers
simulating the passing landscape taking with them the audience as a
party to the journey.
The core story is about Aljosha, a horse, searching for his beloved
Natasha, a circus mare. His devotion is moving and rather more credible
than that of most male actors on stage! There are other characters such
as the brilliantly depicted Molder, a decadent bohemian-looking artist
and a spy; there is the Soviet general Gorenko, the German Field Marshal
and others. They all speak Russian which is almost simultaneously translated
into English. The voiceover in both languages is poetically projected.
That, together with the music, which depicts the changing moods from
melancholic to Klezmer at the Jewish wedding, makes the visual impact
of these puppets powerful and moving.
The drama is in the relationship and the atmosphere created and not
in any battle. The scene in which endless rows of German helmets in
neat rows march towards the front faster and faster has an extraordinary
chilling impact.
This is sheer brilliance and an experience you would not want to miss!
Rivka Jacobson
Not For Sale
Freefall Theatre
Pleasance
***
The plight of trafficked women hit the headlines when tragic death
takes place in a public place and society can no longer turn a blind
eye.
Not For Sale is a moving tale of some young Eastern European
women who dream of a better life in the UK. Once they arrive in the
UK all their rights are taken away from them. They lose their identity
and find themselves trapped in a world where nobody really cares or
is prepared to believe that they did not come here to prostitute themselves.
This is tale of desperation and loss of identity. A story where enormous
courage to get in touch with one's identity and believes lead to tragedy.
Kate Sagovsky, the young director, with six talented performers impressively
depicts through physical and conventional media these important social
issues.
This is a play that must be supported if only to awaken social conscious
to the on-going plight to which many choose to turn a blind eye.
Rivka Jacobson
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